Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique, movement 5
Hector Berlioz’s (1803-1869) masterpiece, Symphonie Fantastique (1830) is an early example of a program symphony. It tells the story of a musician, his obsession with the beloved, his unrequited love, her murder at his hands, and his death on the guillotine. Movement 4, the second to the final movement of the symphony ends with the death of the protagonist. What could possibly be left to the story? His experience in Hell, of course!
In Movement 5 the musician imagines himself at a hideous witch’s Sabbath, wherein, as Berlioz explained, “the beloved melody [see last week’s post] appears once more, but has now lost its noble and shy character; it is now no more than a vulgar dance tune, trivial and grotesque: it is she who is coming to the Sabbath … She joins the diabolical orgy.”
In a master stroke, the “Dies Irae” melody from the medieval chant makes an ominous appearance. Berlioz’s use of the medieval hymn is alluded to in the opening scene of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Even in these modern times the music has lost none of its sinister demeanor.
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